Agave ovatifolia switcheroo
Aw, how fast they grow up! Agaves, that is. And then they start nipping at your shins every time you walk past.
…was only this big 3 years ago — the perfect size for this spot, but still with room to grow.
Recently we added to our front landscape lighting, and the technician asked me, as he delicately adjusted the light next to Vanzie, doging its terminal spikes, “How big are you going to let this get?” I raised an eyebrow and replied, “You don’t really let an agave do anything.” We both laughed, but it got me thinking.
What it got me thinking was that I needed a bigger agave over here in this container (a galvanized fire ring from Tractor Supply) in the island bed. I planted this little whale’s tongue last year to fill a gap where a trio of ‘Color Guard’ yuccas once grew. The yuccas had declined and I took them out, leaving a focal-point hole. An elevated agave seemed just the ticket. But then it looked so small! It bugged me.
So last weekend I pulled a switcheroo. I dug up the little agave and set it aside and hired a couple of guys to come dig up Vanzie, the bigger agave. That took some doing, and some lower leaf removal, but they eventually got it out with a decent root system intact. A tarp stretcher successfully transplanted our patient over to its new home.
And it looks glorious!
Now Vanzie has space to spread its flukes, and it makes a blue-green focal point amid ‘Old Mexico’ prickly pear, Mexican feathergrass, and Mexican oregano. I sense a Mexico theme here! Coincidentally, whale’s tongue agave is native to northeastern Mexico.
Looking regal
OK, the little whale’s tongue agave, transplanted into the tractor tire rim in the gravel courtyard, still looks a little shrimpy. But I know how fast they grow up.
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Digging Deeper
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I am down here laughing at your excellent switcheroo because I recently had to tackle a similar situation – alas, not as intelligently: failed to get the couple of guys and so had to substitute a substantial number of multilingual curses…and, your results look MUCH better than mine!…anyway, wouldn’t it be nice if agaves just had a “size dial” on them for easier adjustment wherever we put them?? No doubt coming right after the invention that makes oak suckers explode automatically when they put out their first evil tentacle…HA.
Getting a couple of guys (or gals) is key for my agave moving plans from now on. Makes all the difference for avoiding those pesky back or stab-wound injuries.
What a great move. It looks as if it’s been in this spot forever, and sets off the fine textures to perfection.
Plopping in a big agave makes an immediate impact, for sure.
Perfection in the new spot.
Thanks, Caroline.
I have one neglected , big Agave at my father’s place. I noticed some baby plants growing beneath the mother plant. I just separated few and plotted in my roof top garden, they are growing pretty fast. Though i dont know the exact variety of the Agave, but the plants are really beautiful.
Thank you for sharing your Agave story with us.
The pupping species of agave are great sources of free plants!
It does look good.
Thanks, Gail.
Looks great! Everyone is happy with their new digs.
They sure do.
Glorious indeed! And nice photo capture with the rays of sunlight, the heavens approve! Also, you’re brave. I don’t know that I would have the guts to have people touch such a glorious specimen. Not that I would have wanted to do it myself either.
Agreed, that was risky. But agave plants are tough, right? Looks fabulous. And I love it in its new spot with all the fluff at the base. Such a good combo.
I just placed a large potted agave amongst some Walker’s Low nepeta; it has the same effect.
That sounds like a pretty combo!
I got a good recommendation for a helper from a fellow agave lover, Matt Shreves. I only had a moment’s concern when the helper needed to cut off a few of the lower leaves to lever it out.
Gardening is all about the tweaks! And you do that so well! When you buy the fire ring- thanks for the source, btw- what is your preferred “soil” mixture for your cactus?
For smaller containers I usually buy Rabbit Hill cactus mix from Barton Springs Nursery. For large ones I’ll mix my own from bags of landscapers mix and coarse decomposed granite and maybe a small helping of regular potting soil.
Pam, all looks great. How long did it take them to dig that out? I would imagine that being elevated made it a little easier than when you moved Moby to your new house. I’m wondering about the in-ground plant in your entry area. It looks good with all the containerized plantings. It looks kind of like a sage, but it’s hard to tell. Also, is any of that entry area on the left on a drip of any kind? Thanks.
I’m not sure it made much of a difference for digging it out, since it had grown out past the metal ring. Some of the lower leaves had to be sawed off to allow room for a shovel so they could unearth it. It took them about 45 minutes to get it dug up — much, much faster than I could have done it myself.
Oh, and the round green shrub that’s not in a container is dwarf myrtle (Myrtus communis ‘Nana’). None of those plants are on the irrigation system, so I just give them an occasional drink from the hose in summer.
That is one big agave you had moved. It does look great in its new space. That little feller will grow up in no time.
Thanks and yes, I’m sure he will.
Great idea. An even greater idea, though, is the way you’ve got height with the Dasylirion quadrangulatum, behind the smaller Whale’s tongue in the gravel courtyard. What have you used to do that?
A long steel pipe that weighs a ton. Seriously, it’s heavy. A friend sold it to me from scrap pieces he’d acquired. That dasylirion has been growing in it for 8 years. Here’s my initial post about it, complete with a funny oops moment: https://www.penick.net/digging/?p=14851.